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Topic: How to use a test site? (Read 3408 times)

I was wondering, since I want to upgrade the core system files, what is the best way to create a test site?

I created a live site and I am working with only that. I make backups every day I edit something, and I also backup the files from the "import-export" section, just in case.

I tried to simply create a subdomain names "test.mysite.com" and clone my site on it. At first, it worked, but as soon as I installed the update, I got an error message (Not acceptable 406 + index.php). I asked my hosting provider to disable the mod_security yesterday and it works for my main site, but not for the sub-site for testing. I am asking them now to check that.

So, that being said, once the test site is installed, how do you use it?You make all your changes in the test site, then clone it to the live site? Or backup the files and export them on the live site with the import-export menu? Or do you use fpt for that?

Does the testing site has to be ssl?

I just want to be sure to use AbanteCart at its best and to have a great website for my customers... I have spent countless hours working on my first site, just to lose it all in a hosting failure and without backups, I want to be sure that never happens again!

please read it with care - but it will allow you to make an exact copy of your exisitng site - including keeping your login creds the same.

The easiest way I have found it to clone your site to a subfolder - eg if you have your working site in yourdomain.com/store then have it cloned to yourdomain.com/test or what ever name you want. If your workinng site in in root, you can still do it the same way, but you may have to manually add the /test to your htacess. file.

Once you have this cloned you, work in that - running an update, adjust some feature to see how it might affect something - in other words you treat this as a sandbox to test any new function and see if the results are desireable, but you do not affect your working site. This becomes quite important after you publicly launch your site.

Additionally - softaculous is a good way to make a complete backup of your working installation with database. I recommend you to do this prior to making any changes. If anything goes wrong , the restore feature from the backup is very easy and fast.

please read it with care - but it will allow you to make an exact copy of your exisitng site - including keeping your login creds the same.

The easiest way I have found it to clone your site to a subfolder - eg if you have your working site in yourdomain.com/store then have it cloned to yourdomain.com/test or what ever name you want. If your workinng site in in root, you can still do it the same way, but you may have to manually add the /test to your htacess. file.

Once you have this cloned you, work in that - running an update, adjust some feature to see how it might affect something - in other words you treat this as a sandbox to test any new function and see if the results are desireable, but you do not affect your working site. This becomes quite important after you publicly launch your site.

Additionally - softaculous is a good way to make a complete backup of your working installation with database. I recommend you to do this prior to making any changes. If anything goes wrong , the restore feature from the backup is very easy and fast.

Here is a quick instruction - When you cloned your working site - you made an exact duplicate, including your database with a different url. eg. domain.com/store, cloned to domain.com/test. These are two complete and independent installations - what you change and test for in /test will NOT affect /store.

My recommendation - is once you have gotten your changes tested in /test and then you should make a backup (in Softaculous) for /store so you can roll back quickly if things go wrong.

Then depending on your changes to be made in your /store site (the same ones you made in test) you may want to place your /store into maintenance mode so no new orders etc are taking place while you are updating your /store.

Since you tested in /test and believe your changes will work, doing the same thing in /store should work the same. If your /store did not update the way you hoped - then immediately restore to the backup you made just prior to your upgrade.

I am assuming your /store is operational and having ongoing orders etc. If this is not the case, and you are in startup development and your /test changes are what you want - AFTER making the backup of /store, then you could clone your /test back to /store - this will give you /store with all the changes you made in test . THIS SHOULD ONLY BE DONE if /store has not received any customer orders etc while you were working in /test. If your /store is active and you clone /test then all customer activity (orders, etc) will be lost.